At The Beginning
by escapismandwanderlust
Summary: After the eclipse, another journey is about to begin. A collection of 100 word drabbles that I wrote for my FanMix CD, At the Beginning. Link to the CD is in my profile. DG/Cain.


**Authors Note**: I made a FanMix CD based on fifteen songs relating to DG/Cain. When I put them all together I thought I would try to make a short little story that went along with it. So after a month of working on it on and off I have created fifteen 100 word drabbles. Also… keeping drabbles to only 100 words is HARD!!!

**Authors Note 2**: Sorry to those of you that have me on your alerts and may have gotten multiple e-mails about this story. I had forgotten to change something before I uploaded it and didn't realize it until after the fact. : / I'm sorry.

**To Listen to the FanMix**: follow the link in my profile. : )

* * *

**Kind and Generous – Natalie Merchant**

"_You've been so kind and generous__  
I don't know how you keep on giving  
__For your kindness I'm in debt to you  
And I never could have come this far without you"_

Though she tried as hard as she could, there were not enough words in the English, or Ozian language to express DG's feelings of gratitude towards Wyatt Cain. He had been her protector, her supporter, her strength when she had wanted to curl up in a ball and cry in self-pity and helplessness. Now, as they stood on the balcony watching the suns rise over the O.Z, she met his eyes and realized she didn't have to put into words everything she was feeling. The smile that graced his face and shone from his eyes told her, he already knew.

* * *

**For You – The Calling**

"_Someone's changed me  
Something's saved me  
And this is who I am  
Although I was blinded  
My heart let me find out  
That truth makes a better man_  
…_  
I'm there for you  
No matter what  
I'm there for you  
Never giving up  
I'm there for you  
For You"_

Cain chuckled softly as he watched DG spin in circles in the pouring rain. His arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned against the palace wall keeping watch over the youngest princess as she danced. Although the eclipse had occurred over a month ago he had yet to leave the young woman's side. She'd told him that he didn't need to stay, she would be fine if he left, but her eyes had told the truth even when her voice stood firm. Day after day he tried to convince himself he stayed because of a long forgotten promise.

* * *

**West Coast Wind – The City Drive**

"_Put your pain aside  
It's not the end of time  
From where I'm standing"_

He found her late one night; half dead in the palace kitchen and sipping scalding hot tea but never flinching. When she started crying he held her, rubbing her back and whispering words of comfort. Self-pity and loathing had ravaged DG's mind for weeks after the eclipse. Fifteen annuals of pain and darkness had been her fault. She asked him how he could ever forgive her. She was the reason his wife was dead. He whispered that she was not to blame.

For the first night in months she slept soundly as he stroked her hair and held her close.

* * *

**Beside Me – Forty Foot Echo**

"_And when you're not around  
I like to say the things  
That I could never say to your face_  
'_Til you can fly awake, inside your dream awaits  
To see you there, when you're beside me  
And still you're beside me…  
Yesterday's far away, and I won't be running back_  
'_Cause I won't leave you"_

Did she really ask him how he could ever forgive her? He wanted to laugh at the idea. She was only five years old when she had changed the O.Z. and his life forever. Even if he had created a twisted timeline linking his wife's death to what happened in the cave, he could never blame the woman that was now asleep in his arms. If anything, he should be thanking her. _We are all looking for second chances._ He had a second chance at life because of her. He wasn't about to waste it dwelling on blame and regret.

* * *

**Downfall – Matchbox Twenty**

"_Ive always been with you  
Here and now  
Give all thats within you  
Be my savior  
And Ill be your downfall_

The months passed and Cain didn't know how much longer he could bare being DG's bodyguard. He wanted to stay, more than anything. But it was dangerous. DG was the embodiment of everything he thought had died while he was trapped in the tin suit. She was joy, faith, hope, and love. The light to his darkness. He was quickly falling in love with the young woman who had come charging heart first into his field of vision a half-annual ago. He couldn't fall in love with her, a bodyguard was not supposed to fall in love with his princess.

* * *

**I'll Keep Your Secrets – Trans-Siberian Orchestra**

"_What is this thing you keep inside  
Out of the light and wrapped in pride  
Always afraid that one day it will show"_

He began putting space between himself and DG after he decided to leave the palace. He'd barely talked to her unless absolutely necessary. It was slow torture. This would be the worst torture however: telling her that he was leaving. Unfortunately, she spoke before he could.

"What is your problem?"  
"Pardon me?"  
"Why won't you chase or follow me?"  
"Don't you like alone time, Princess?"  
"You won't even talk to me."

"I miss you." She whispered.

He looked into her tear filled eyes and sighed. Mentally he slowly unpacked, placing his few belongings once more in their proper place.

* * *

**She Changes Your Mind - Copeland**

"_She changes your mind  
When you see the joy in her eyes  
It makes you feel  
It makes you feel  
That she draws your eyes  
From all the things that made you numb  
It makes you feel  
It makes you feel_  
…_  
It was your hello that kept me hanging on every word  
And your goodbye that keeps me listening for your voice around each corner  
It keeps me listening for you voice around each corner"_

Some days he still wished that he had ignored the pleading look in DG's eyes the day he had wanted to leave the palace for good. Today however, he knew he had made the painful, but right decision. Her soft voice called out to him to follow her through the maze on the periphery of Finaqua. He had spent all afternoon not only searching for the exit but for her as well. She taunted him; she dashed around corners just as he reached a hand out to grab a hold of her. She was forever just out of his reach.

* * *

**Why Do You Let Me Stay Here? – She & Him**

"_Why don't you sit right down and make me smile  
You make me feel like I am just a child  
Why do you end it?  
Just give me credit  
I'm just sitting on the shelf"_

The O.Z. was the complete opposite of the Other Side as far as age was concerned. In the O.Z. alcohol was legal at eighteen annuals and twenty-one was when a person was finally recognized as an adult. Although many could argue that DG had been an adult for many annuals, now it would finally be official. As the date drew closer the young woman felt a mixed sense of excitement and apprehension. She would finally be considered an adult. She just wondered, would her Tin Man finally see that, or would it remind him of how young she truly was?

* * *

**Things Don't Always Turn Out That Way – The Calling**

"_So wipe that smile off your face  
Before it gets too late  
There's only so much time  
For you to make up your mind"_

He couldn't stop his growl whenever a new prince or duke joined DG on the palace's ballroom floor. The glass of water in his hand was close to shattering in his grip. As the Birthday Ball drew to a close he knew he couldn't just stand back and watch any longer. With determined strides he crossed the room until he was standing behind the woman. He placed his hand against her arm and gently turned her around. "Dance with me?" He was answered with a radiating smile that not one of the princes or dukes had the pleasure of receiving.

* * *

**Gorgeous – Idina Menzel**

"_In a perfect world, in another time  
In a far off place we wouldn't need to justify  
Everything we are  
And all that we believe  
We could finally be  
Whoever we both want to be"_

They danced around the ballroom floor as gracefully as cattle. He stepped on her toes. She tripped on her dress. To onlookers they made an extremely odd pair. A gruff Tin Man and dainty princess did not mix. Yet the couple could care less what others thought. In their minds they moved elegantly, as if they had been dancing together all their lives. The gossiping royalty did not surround them; they were alone, surrounded only by candlelight. In a world all their own they held each other close, letting their fluid movement put words to the thoughts in their heads.

* * *

**She's Like The Wind – Patrick Swayze**

"_I look in the mirror and all I see  
Is a young old man with only a dream  
Am I just fooling myself  
That she'll stop the pain  
Living without her  
I'd go insane"_

Cain took extra time securing her room after the ball. He checked under the bed, behind the curtains, in every shadow. With so many people in the castle he needed to be certain of her safety. DG whispered softly that he could stay with her; he could stay on the couch instead of leaving her all alone. He agreed without hesitation. As she slept he watched over her, ever her protector. Her face was the image of contentment, her dark hair falling like a halo around her head. She was vision from a dream. A dream that was all his.

* * *

**Fairytale – Sarah Bareilles**

"_Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom  
Man made up a story said that I should believe him  
Go and tell your white knight that he's handsome in hindsight  
But I don't want the next best thing"_

DG wouldn't marry some random stuck-up snobby prince. She wouldn't. She refused. Her mother married for love. So why now was she being denied that privilege? She didn't want some pompous boy by her side telling her what to do and how to do it. What she wanted was Wyatt Cain. He was the only one she could ever imagine by her side when she was crowned. She loved him. If her mother had a problem with that DG didn't care. Her mother was allowed to marry for love. The O.Z. be damned if she wasn't allowed that as well.

* * *

**In Her Eyes – Josh Groban**

"_I am not a hero  
I am not an angel  
I am just a man  
Man who's trying to love her  
Unlike any other  
In her eyes I am"_

"I know that I am not a prince, a duke or an earl. I'm just an old Tin Man and your bodyguard. But… if you will accept me… I would like to be more for you. Your parents have, finally, given their consent. Took your mother a bit of convincing though. The point is…DG, you came crashing into my life with your heart open. In doing so you helped me find mine again. And if you want it, it's yours. I love you."

Glitch smiled to himself as he secretly watched the nervous man practice his speech in the gardens.

* * *

**Come Here Boy – Imogen Heap**

"_I know that my face  
Is only too familiar to your sleep  
I can see it in your eyes  
And I can tell by your body heat"_

She must be dreaming. He couldn't be here? Asking her that? Saying those words she had longed for so long to hear. She nodded her head slowly, shock still covering her face. When his arms wrapped around her and their lips met she knew she was truly awake. In her dreams he never kissed her like this. With such passion and love in a single movement. In dreams he never held her as if his life depended on it. She was awake. She was in Cain's arms. She loved him. He loved her. And she was going to marry him.

* * *

**At The Beginning – Richard Marx and Donna Lewis**

"_We were strangers  
Starting out on a journey  
Never dreaming  
What we'd have to go through  
Now here we are  
And I'm suddenly standing  
At the beginning with you__"_

Cain wrapped his arms softly around the woman standing in front of him on the balcony. Together they watched the suns leisurely rise from behind the horizon. The coronation ball had gone long into the night yet neither had felt the least bit fatigued as the last of the guests left. They stayed up waiting for morning with anticipation. A new day. A new era. A new life for them. At that moment they were no longer princess and Tin Man nor queen and prince consort. They were simply DG and Cain, starting out on a whole new journey together.


End file.
